The following background discussion includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Pills and tablets are often a standard form of delivery for many medications and vitamins to users. These pills and tablets can come in different shapes and sizes. For example, pills and tablets could have a round, capsule, oblong, rectangle, or heart shape. Often times, consuming the pill can be problematic due to its size and shape. In addition, it can be difficult to split a pill in half, such as to reduce a dose of a medication.
In an effort to reduce the problems with administering certain pills, various pill cutters are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,243,826 to Darst discusses a pull splitter having a blade guard that retracts when the device is closed. Although the device could include a pill crusher compartment that utilizes a portion of dead space within the device, such compartment is located in a separate portion of the device, adding unnecessary complexity to the device. In addition, the device fails to allow for quick replacement of the blade or crusher.
Another version of a pill splitter is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,021 to Fiocchi. The Fiocchi pill splitter is capable of pill splitting and pulverizing. A pill is split by a hinged top with a blade when the cap is moved to a closed position. Although the device can be adapted to be used with a mortar to thereby pulverize a pill, the device also requires a separate compartment for pulverizing the pill and additional equipment, which can be undesirable.
In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,254 to Engel et al. describes a device that crushes and splits pills. However, like the preceding devices, the Engel device also splits and crushes pills in separate areas of the device.
These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
Thus, there is still a need for simplified devices and methods for crushing and splitting pills in a single area of the device.